News & Stats

Barn Notes

Alexander Barn Still Basking in the Afterglow

Posted Saturday, Aug 4, 2012

When the locally-based, five-year-old Tune Me In, who at
25-1 was the longest shot in the field, captured the Grade 3 $150,000 Oceanport
Stakes here on Haskell Day, there was jubilation in the camp of trainer Bruce
Alexander. One week later, the barn is still basking in the afterglow.

“He ran big,
didn’t he?” asked Brad Eacor, Alexander’s long time assistant. “It was such a
nice pick-me-up for the whole barn. We had been waiting a long time for him to
run like that. I’ve liked him since he was a two-year-old. He’s run some good
races, but that was a great race. It’s been a while since we had a good horse
like him in the barn. We’re a small stable, and the really good ones come few
and far between. It sure is nice to win a graded stakes race, and win it right
here at Monmouth.”

The
$100,000 Grade 3 Cliffhanger Stakes, which is also on the grass, will be run
here on September 1 and it is the logical nest spot for Patricia Generazio’s Tune
Me In. It looks like he’ll get a rematch with Get Serious, who was only a
half-length behind him in the Oceanport.

“He came
back really good (from the Oceanport),” said co-trainer Pat McBurney. “He still
loves racing and to stay as fast as he is at eight years old is really
something. He’s such a pleasure to have in the barn. He’s a hard horse to train
and he’s rough about galloping, but I guess he’s used to us and we’re used to
him by now.”